Shame he died. But as a local, I never understood what people saw in that damn blue dog. Everyone I know in Acadiana talks as though he was the bee's farkin knees, but I wouldn't know why just by looking at his work.

FTFA: "That turned into the Blue Dog and he said at the beginning of that period, he heard many nay-sayers, telling him that such popular art would ruin his reputation."

It isn't that it was popular art, it is that he unimaginatively milked one trick for all it was worth and then some, in a boring pandering Larry-the-Cable-Guy way. So he's "Blue Dog Painter" instead of a name. That wasn't a necessary part of creating popular art.

George was a cool guy. He always intimidated me because he looked grumpy, but he was really a nice man. I remember going to Carmel and seeing him. He was picking out Blue Dog purses to sell in his gallery. It was so funny to have this huge surly looking dude asking me which purse I think people would like more.

To those of you who dislike the Blue Dog and think that's all there is to him, I encourage you to check out his older work that featured the Cajuns. It's really good stuff. He will be missed.

My condolences to his family and to André, wherever you are. I should have been a lot nicer to you. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I also don't get the love for the Blue Dog series, but I understand it completely. He found a way to make a bunch of money painting some fairly simple works to fund his other works which were a lot more sophisticated. He even went so far as to have "The Blue Dog Cafe" in Lafayette. It has average food, but there is nothing wrong with the set up. Good for him to make his money while he could. As mentioned above the earlier work was pretty darn good and those are the ones hanging on our family walls.

NicoFinn:George was a cool guy. He always intimidated me because he looked grumpy, but he was really a nice man. I remember going to Carmel and seeing him. He was picking out Blue Dog purses to sell in his gallery. It was so funny to have this huge surly looking dude asking me which purse I think people would like more.

To those of you who dislike the Blue Dog and think that's all there is to him, I encourage you to check out his older work that featured the Cajuns. It's really good stuff. He will be missed.

My condolences to his family and to André, wherever you are. I should have been a lot nicer to you. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I was waiting for you to show up. The cajun work is phenom, but it one of those things where you really have to understand the culture to understand the work.